Qualcomm introduced an upgrade to its Snapdragon 710 chipset platform; the new Snapdragon 712 boosts performance a bit — up to 10 per cent, the company claims — and is meant to optimize battery life.

The Snapdragon 712 remains very similar to the 710; it’s an upper-tier chipset that slots in between the flagship 845 / 855 and the 600-series chips in midrange budget phones.

Like the 710, the 712 is built on a 10nm process. It retains the same octa-core CPU and GPU, but the clock speed has been bumped up to 2.3Ghz from 2.2Ghz. There’s also Quick Charge 4+, which Qualcomm says can charge a phone from empty to 50 per cent in just 15 minutes. The X15 LTE model inside is also unchanged, which speaks to how well the X15 continues to do the job.

The Snapdragon 712 delivers “up to a 35 percent improvement in graphics performance and power efficiency,” according to Qualcomm. That focus on efficiency continues with the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 855 announced in December. The company believes the 712 is cut out for Android’s top titles and says it is “a powerhouse for gaming and beyond.”

For the full spec sheet, check out this link: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon-712-mobile-platform

There are also a couple audio-related improvements: the 712 includes support for the company’s TrueWireless Stereo Plus technology for simpler pairing and reduced latency when using truly wireless earbuds.